(no subject)

[mlle_belle]

"Please, Belle, I want to come and see!"

This was one of the most difficult partings she had yet had to make, but as Belle stood on one side of the Nexus, trying to dissuade a chipped teacup from following her into the hotel, she thought that this was never something she had ever imagined happening, not even when she cast herself in her own little stories in her head. "Chip, I'm sorry, but I don't know that you can even follow me in here," she says as kindly as she can manage.

Beyond that, she'd not sure she wants to bring all the beings in the castle into the Nexus. True, most people here didn't seem like they'd mind, but a talking armoire? It definitely wasn't the kind of hotel furniture people expected, even with mad shifting doors and outer space.

"Can't I come in for a little while and meet people?" Chip asks plaintively. "I don't like it when you're not around."

Belle smiles softly as she kneels down, her dress covering her as she scoots closer to the divide so that she's half in one world and half in the other, allowing Chip to hop into the palm of her hands. She knows that he wants her to come back to the castle, but things are so different and difficult now. She thinks that maybe she could still break the curse, but she doesn't know that she'd stay and given the choice of breaking the Beast's heart and putting off the decision, she's chosen the latter because she's happy with her life.

She thinks that it makes her a coward and she's ashamed for that, too. It's even more reason to continue hiding.

Belle's so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't even notice Chip jumping in her palms, trying to get someone's attention who's passing down the hall behind her. "Hi there!" Chip cries, bubbly and delighted. "Are you from here?"

Comments

[speedy_queen]

Thea is an all American girl. She grew up in the lap of luxury with everything her little heart could possibly desire, up to and including a yearly trip to Disneyland so she could eat candy and meet princesses and ride the teacups until she got sick.

So she does, of course, recognize the teacup from Beauty and the Beast. How couldn't she? How couldn't she know the teacup when she spent most of a summer with a broken leg watching that movie over and over and over again? She bends down a little and grins.

"Not from here but I live here now. I'm Thea."

[mlle_belle]

Belle lets out a laugh of disbelief when it seems Chip's managed to get his way and find someone in the hotel to speak to. Belle turns and settles on the ground so that Chip can nestle in her skirts, peering up at Thea. "I'm sorry," Belle says. "He's very curious."

She's grateful that Thea doesn't seem to be put off by a talking teacup, but that edge of worry lives in Belle, of what might happen if someone decides her mad.

[speedy_queen]

"No, it's cool. What's your name?" Thea knows it's Chip, of course, but she doesn't want to freak out the teacup or who she assumes is Belle because it's not every day she gets to meet her favorite Disney princess on a regular afternoon.

"I haven't met a lot of talking teacups."

[mlle_belle]

"I'm Chip," he says with a hop, skip, and delight, "and this is Belle," he says, taking great pleasure in introducing the both of them. He gives Belle a sly little smile. "See, she knows that I'm special."

"You're very special," Belle agrees warmly, giving the woman a warm smile. "As he said, I'm Belle and it's a pleasure to meet you. I'd get up to shake your hand, but I don't know if I can move or else the door might shut up on and I don't want to lock him out."

[speedy_queen]

"Oh, no, don't want that. Here, I can get you, Chip," Thea says, kneeling and opening up her hands. "I mean, if that's cool with you guys?"

[mlle_belle]

Belle assures her with a nod of her head. "I don't think he can come into the hotel," she says softly. "We tried a few times, but there's some sort of barrier and it always stops him. Maybe it's trying to make sure he doesn't get lost with the other china."

[speedy_queen]

"Oh," Thea says, trying not to be too disappointed about that. "Well, I guess I could come back in with you guys? Look, it's not every day I get to meet a talking teacup. I'm not ready to tuck this experience back in the old memory banks just yet."

[mlle_belle]

"There's a small dale just past the door, here," Belle says, having learned these woods some time ago and though it's autumn in her world, turning to winter, it's still comfortable enough. "If you'd like to come in and we can have a nice long chat." She lifts Chip up with both hands so he's on eye level with Thea.

"I'd really like that, Miss Thea," he says with a bubbly giggle.

[speedy_queen]

"Oh, well, off to the woods, then," Thea says brightly. Seriously. She's going to hang out with Belle and Chip and that warms the heart of her inner 12 year old. That was a long time ago, back when things were simple and happy.

She goes through the door, waiting for Belle and Chip to follow along.

[mlle_belle]

Belle smiles with delight as she pushes to her feet and wanders back into the woods with her palm open and flat so that Chip can settle down onto it, bouncing as he looks around and rambling at ten miles an hour while he does. "Belle took me into the village and even though I had to hide in her dress, I got to see and smell so many things! My favourite is the cinnamon buns!"

"It's only a shame he couldn't have more than a few morsels," Belle says fondly.

[speedy_queen]

"That's a big trip for a little guy," Thea says, laughing. She can't help but be a little happy about it because Chip just seems so eager - she hasn't been that excited about something in a long time.

"I haven't had a good cinnamon bun in a long time."

[mlle_belle]

"He's taken quite a trip, yes," Belle agrees fondly, but thinks that he deserves it. She knows that the Beast doesn't know about her sneaking him away from the castle, but that's also because she'd been very careful not to let anyone see her on her way through the halls. "I can show you where we got it, if you'd like?" Belle offers.

[speedy_queen]

"Look, I am all for pastry adventures with china and French women," Thea teases. Everything just feels lighter for once, like she doesn't have anything to worry about, and it's been a really long time since she's felt that way without the help of drugs or alcohol.

"Lead the way?"

[nebaritralk]

Chiana comes to a sharp stop, and looks over at whoever - or whatever - has addressed her. Some sort of cup, that's what it looks like, and it sounds like a child. Kinda looks like a child, if a cup can look like a child. This place keeps getting more and more fahrbot, but at least this isn't boring.

"I look like I'm from here?" she asks, amused, focusing on the cup rather than the young human (probably a human) holding it. She's all shades of grey, down to the darker hue of her lips, apart from her eyes - all black, those.

[mlle_belle]

Belle bites her lip as she glances over her shoulder with an open smile on her face, though Chip looks like he has to think about it, furrowing his little painted on cup brows as he stares at her. "I don't think so, but I'm a teacup," he says. "So I don't know if I know what normal people from here are s'posed to look like," he goes on plaintively.

"I'm sorry, he's very curious," Belle apologises, settling Chip in the folds of her skirt. "He didn't mean to offend, I promise."

[nebaritralk]

"No, no, I like him," Chiana assures the girl immediately, and crouches right beside her, so it's easy to talk to her, and she can still see the self-proclaimed teacup. Him, it is a him, and Chiana's curious, too. "Hey there," she greets him more than she greets the human. Her head's tilted to the side as she watches him, and her crouch has one of her legs extended a little way out, so she can shift her weight around if she feels like it. "I'm Chiana."

[mlle_belle]

Chip brightens up, hopping so he can look at Belle as he whispers, 'she likes me!' with as much delight as a teacup can have. Belle smiles warmly. "I'm Belle," she introduces herself, getting comfortable on the division of worlds seeing as she thinks they might be here for a time. "And this little guy is Chip."

[nebaritralk]

Chiana shifts her weight curiously, keeping her eye on Chip. Fitting, given the small chip in his rim. "Cups all talk where you're from?" She grins at him, dark lips stretching up. "Or are you something special?"

[mlle_belle]

Belle waits a moment to see if Chip is going to answer, but he gets sheepish and shy, as if he doesn't really want to talk about the curse. "He's unique and rare," she praises, not wanting it to seem like a bad thing because Chip had absolutely nothing to do with the curse that had befallen the castle. "There's some others like him, but none exactly like Chip."

[nebaritralk]

"I bet," Chiana confirms with enthusiasm, glancing up at the girl. She bares her teeth in another grin. "We don't have anything like him, where I'm from."

[mlle_belle]

"No, there's not many like him anywhere," Belle agrees and laughs warmly when she earns a happy smile from Chip, who begins to hop in the other woman's direction.

"What's your name? And how come you're grey? Does it mean you're in a kind of bad mood, like a rainy day?" he pipes up curiously.

[nebaritralk]

"I'm Chiana," she repeats, watching him curiously, and holding her hand out, in case he wants to hop onto it. "And all of my people are grey, bad mood or not," she adds, tilting her head this way, then that as she watches him.

[mlle_belle]

Belle can't help but think it might have been a wonderful sight if a person's skin could change colour with their moods, but she bites her lip. Her own daydreams should take second place to Chip's explorations, seeing as she's so happy to see him again after so long. "Your people?" she does ask. "Where are you from?"

[nebaritralk]

"I'm Nebari," Chiana answers, which Belle here would already know if she was from any place where the Nebari existed. She looks up from Chip and at the young woman, so Sebacean-looking. "Nowhere near your Earth. You're human, right?"

[mlle_belle]

"I'm human, yes," Belle replies, thinking that it's something else indeed that after all this time, she doesn't think of that as a strange question. "Chip is, too, but he's currently existing in a wonderful form," she praises firmly, not wanting him to think he's odd. "I'm Belle," she introduces herself. "From France, on Earth."